May 2022

The 31 Best Mother's Day Gifts For 2022

1 year 10 months ago

Mother's Day 2022 (May 8) is right around the corner, which means you don't have too much time left to pick out the perfect gift for the mom in your life. Thankfully, there's no shortage of incredible products on the market to choose from, and most are available with expedited shipping to arrive at your doorstep before the weekend (unless, of course, you want to get your mom a PS5 or Xbox Series X). If you're looking for Mother's Day gift ideas, you're in luck. We've rounded up 30 of the best Mother's Day gifts that span gaming, tech, and much more.

Our Mother's Day gift guide includes potential presents across multiple price points, from practical items like the Echo Dot and Fitbit Charge 5 to leisure products such as new video games, streaming subscriptions, and gaming accessories. Almost all of these products will arrive before Mother's Day--although some might arrive early next week based on your location or shipping delays. Keep in mind that as we get closer to the big day, stock and shipping estimates could fluctuate, so it's best to get your Mother's Day shopping done early.

Plus, for more Mother's Day gift ideas she may love, check out our guides to the best Animal Crossing merch, best board games, and the best tech gadgets under $50.

Author
Jenae Sitzes

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Elden Ring: Where To Get Thops's Barrier

1 year 10 months ago

Though many of Elden Ring's sorceries are focused on dishing out copious amounts of damage, a handful of them are helpful defensive tools. In the case of Thops's Barrier, you can actually gain quite an advantage over other spell-casters. In this guide, we'll tell you precisely how to get your hands on this deflective shield of magic.

Thops's Barrier explained

Thops's Barrier is a sorcery that requires 18 Intelligence to cast. It can deflect incoming magic attacks, making it useful in PVP or against spell-casting enemies that relentlessly shoot magic at you.

Thops's Barrier's item description reads:

The lifelong pursuit of Thops the Bluntstone. Creates a magic forcefield that deflects sorceries and incantations. Hold to continuously create barriers. Future generations will learn. They will know the foolishness of the sneering sorcerers who ridiculed this theory, little realizing that it was in fact a discovery worthy of a new conspectus of the academy.

Where to find Thops's Barrier

Thops's Barrier is found on Thops's corpse in the Raya Lucaria Academy legacy dungeon in Liurnia of the Lakes. In order for him to show up dead there, however, you'll need to complete his short quest.

You'll first meet Thops at the Church of Irith [1] in southern Liurnia of the Lakes.

Author
Billy Givens

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Elden Ring: Where To Get Starlight

1 year 10 months ago

Most Elden Ring players will find a torch and carry it with them to light up dark areas, but if you're a sorcerer, you can actually cast a spell so that you don't have to use a hand holding up the flame. Starlight gives you the option, and if that sounds like something you want to make happen, read on to find out where you can add the sorcery to your collection.

Starlight explained

Starlight is a sorcery that requires 15 Intelligence to cast. It creates, well, starlight that will illuminate your surroundings, making it a useful alternative to a torch.

Starlight's item description reads:

One of the glintstone sorceries of the Academy of Raya Lucaria. Creates a small, floating star light that illuminates surroundings. This sorcery can be cast while in motion. Granted to sorcerers who depart from the academy to embark on journeys. Even during the blackest nights, sojourns underground, or imprisonment in gaol, the stars are never far from a sorcerer's side.

Where to find Starlight

Starlight can be purchased from Thops at the Church of Irith in Liurnia of the Lakes. This fairly early-game area is easily accessible by either completing the Stormveil Castle legacy dungeon or using a shortcut to bypass the dungeon altogether.

Author
Billy Givens

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League Of Legends MMO Will "Respect Player Time," According To Producer

1 year 10 months ago

Riot Games in-the-works MMORPG set in the League of Legends world of Runeterra is still likely many years away, but when it does arrive, the developers want it to respect the time of players.

Executive producer Greg Street recently took to Twitter to ask fans what they didn't want to see in Riot's MMO, to which many fans responded with comments revolving around the length of time needed to play the game. Many fans hoped Riot's MMO would not "artificially" increase the amount of time players needed to play in order to fully enjoy the experience.

Street responded with a lengthy Twitter thread diving into the development team's mindset when it comes to the length of time they think the game should require of players, and the pros and cons of having too much or too little content.

Author
Cameron Koch

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Why Call Of Duty: Vanguard Didn't Sell As Well As Black Ops Cold War, According To Activision

1 year 10 months ago

Call of Duty: Vanguard did not sell as well as Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and now Activision has offered some insight into why that might have been. In its latest annual report for 2021, the company said it failed to execute, and the World War II setting didn't particularly grab fans.

"While Call of Duty remains one of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time, our 2021 premium release didn't meet our expectations, we believe primarily due to our own execution," Activision said. "The game's World War II setting didn’t resonate with some of our community and we didn't deliver as much innovation in the premium game as we would have liked."

Management said it is "certainly" addressing both of these issues with Call of Duty's 2022 release, which is Modern Warfare 2. The Modern Warfare series, which is set in the modern day, is known to be particularly popular. In fact, 2019's Modern Warfare is the "most successful" Call of Duty game in history, Activision said. The game is reported to have sold more than 30 million copies.

As for the "innovation" that Modern Warfare 2 might include, Activision has teased that the game will be the "most advanced" in the history of the series.

Author
Eddie Makuch

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Best Call Of Duty: Warzone Weapons And Loadouts For Season 3

1 year 10 months ago

Call of Duty Season 3 brought some significant weapon balancing to Warzone, including a nerf to Vanguard's popular Bren light machine gun and major changes to the sniper class. You'll definitely want to update your loadouts for this new season. Here we'll guide you through creating some of the most powerful gun builds in Season 3.

BOCW AK-47

Black Ops Cold War's AK-47

Black Ops Cold War's version of the AK-47 assault rifle has returned as a top-tier choice for Warzone's long range meta. This weapon boasts great mobility and offers a fast time-to-kill, but it can be made even more powerful with the recommended attachments.

Author
S.E. Doster

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Elden Ring: Where To Get Ancient Death Rancor

1 year 10 months ago

Most of Elden Ring's sorceries and incantations only require investment in a single stat to use, but in the case of some of the game's Death Sorceries, players may find themselves needing to pump up both Intelligence and Faith to make use of them. Such is the case with Ancient Death Rancor, making it a niche spell for most--but if your build is suitable, read on to find out where to grab this deadly sorcery.

Ancient Death Rancor explained

Ancient Death Rancor is a sorcery that requires 34 Intelligence and 24 Faith to cast. It summons vengeful spirits that chase down and damage enemies. However, due to its unusual stat requirements, it's best used only for niche builds and wouldn't make sense for most sorcerers.

Ancient Death Rancor's item description reads:

Sorcery of the servants of Death. Summons a horde of vengeful spirits that chase down foes. Charging enhances potency. They are cinders of the ancient death hex, raked from the fires of ghostflame by Deathbirds.

Where to find Ancient Death Rancor

Ancient Death Rancor can be obtained by defeating the Death Rite Bird east of the Raya Lucaria Academy legacy dungeon in Liurnia of the Lakes exclusively during nighttime. If you've unlocked the Gate Town North Site of Grace, head directly south of it to find this monstrous bird.

Author
Billy Givens

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Battlefield 2042 Custom Games Just Got Major XP Changes

1 year 10 months ago

DICE's latest update to Battlefield 2042 looks to address ongoing Battlefield Portal custom game XP problems, this time by limiting the amount XP that can be earned according to what types of modifiers or rules are in effect on any given server.

A graphic posted by the official Battlefield Direct Communication account on Twitter breaks down the new system, which restricts various types of progression or XP earned depending on what type of custom game is being played.

Author
Cameron Koch

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Elden Ring: Where To Get Gavel Of Haima

1 year 10 months ago

It's rather nice how easy it is to find most of Elden Ring's myriad of spells, but there are nevertheless a few that require you to solve some clever puzzles. In the case of Gavel of Haima, you'll need to go on a bit of a journey to collect some other things before you can unlock the barrier between you and the sorcery, so read on to find out what all it'll take to solve the Converted Fringe Tower puzzle and snag a new spell.

Gavel of Haima explained

Gavel of Haima is a sorcery that requires 25 Intelligence to cast. It swings a massive magical hammer at your foes in a visually cool fashion, and it's great at breaking stances.

Gavel of Haima's item description reads:

One of the glintstone sorceries of the Academy of Raya Lucaria. Creates a magical greathammer and slams it down. Allows one follow-up attack. Drawn from the scholarly conspectus of Haima, the adjudicator of the academy, this sorcery employs might as a means to quell conflict.

Where to find Gavel of Haima

Gavel of Haima can be found at the top of the Converted Fringe Tower [1] in the northeastern portion of Liurnia of the Lakes. To reach this area, simply head east from the Frenzied Flame Village Outskirts Site of Grace.

Author
Billy Givens

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Elden Ring: Where To Get Cannon Of Haima

1 year 10 months ago

While many of Elden Ring's spells can be a breeze to find, a handful of them require you to solve some exceptionally tricky puzzles. One such sorcery, Cannon of Haima, ranks among the most difficult to figure out, but fret not, as we've got you covered below with a guide that details everything you need to know about solving the Converted Fringe Tower puzzle and earning yourself the spell.

Cannon of Haima explained

Cannon of Haima is a sorcery that requires 25 Intelligence to cast. It lobs an explosive magical projectile that can dish out some solid damage to foes, especially when charged up beforehand.

Cannon of Haima's item description reads:

One of the glintstone sorceries of the Academy of Raya Lucaria. Lobs an explosive magic projectile that flies in an arc. Charging enhances potency. Drawn from the conspectus of Haima, the adjudicator of the academy, this sorcery employs might as a means to quell conflict.

Where to find Cannon of Haima

Cannon of Haima can be found at the top of the Converted Fringe Tower [1] in the northeastern portion of Liurnia of the Lakes. To reach this area, you'll want to head east from the Frenzied Flame Village Outskirts Site of Grace.

Author
Billy Givens

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Call Of Duty: Warzone's Caldera Map Continues To Improve With Season 3

1 year 10 months ago

Call of Duty: Warzone's Caldera map arrived for Season 1 of Vanguard, shifting players from the drab buildings of Verdansk to a sunny island getaway. However, Season 1 also launched with myriad problems on Caldera that hindered the enjoyment and playability of the map. Now with the launch of Season 3, Warzone's tropical island is a much better place to visit.

Call of Duty Season 1 made it really hard to enjoy the beauty of the island with graphical bugs that caused giant polygon monsters to swallow buildings and players whole. Consoles struggled to keep up, with several crashing and performance issues across PlayStation and Xbox systems. Some of the operator skins in the battle pass were also broken, leaving many players to abuse skins that allowed them to be nothing more than a floating head on the map, making them frustrating to encounter. Furthermore, the Ricochet anti-cheat that was promised also didn't arrive to all regions at launch, so hackers continued to spoil all the fairness and fun. Overall, Caldera was a refreshing change in scenery for Warzone, but it got off to a really bad start.

Author
S.E. Doster

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Elden Ring: Where To Get Ambush Shard

1 year 10 months ago

While you may typically want to use Elden Ring's strong spells to pummel your enemies with a full-on frontal assault, there can be some niche uses for having a bit of trickery up your sleeve, too. The sorcery Ambush Shard can help you be a clever magic user who spawns spells behind your opponents, and you can read on to find out exactly where you can find it so that you can try it out for yourself.

Ambush Shard explained

Ambush Shard is a sorcery that requires 23 Intelligence to cast. It summons a projectile behind your enemies, which will fire on them after a brief delay. This makes it a useful but low-damage spell for use in PVP or against enemies with shields.

Ambush Shard's item description reads:

One of the night sorceries of Sellia, Town of Sorcery. Launches a projectile from a distance removed from the caster, so as to strike the enemy from behind. This sorcery can be cast repeatedly. The Sellian sorcerers were assassins, and it is said that they often hunted their fellows.

Where to find Ambush Shard

Ambush Shard can be obtained inside Witchbane Ruins in Weeping Peninsula. This location is easily accessible quite early in the game by heading to the far south portion of Limgrave and taking the bridge into Weeping Peninsula. Afterward, simply head to the western portion of the biome until you come across the Witchbane Ruins.

Author
Billy Givens

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Elden Ring: Where To Get Adula's Moonblade

1 year 10 months ago

Plenty of Elden Ring's spells are obtainable pretty early in your journey through the Lands Between, but in the case of the useful frostbite-inflicting Adula's Moonblade sorcery, you'll need to progress quite far into one of the game's longest quests to round it up. Follow this guide to find out where that location is and what you'll need to do to reach it.

Adula's Moonblade explained

Adula's Moonblade is a sorcery that requires 32 Intelligence to cast. It creates a magical sword that slashes vertically while also shooting a projectile. The spell builds frostbite up on enemies, which will lower their damage absorption by 20% and slowing their stamina recovery speed.

Adula's Moonblade's item description reads:

Sorcery of Adula, the Glintstone Dragon. Conjures a cold magic greatsword, then delivers a sweeping blow that launches a blade-like projectile of frost. This sorcery can be cast repeatedly. Adula, a devourer of sorcerers, was bested by Ranni and subsequently swore a knightly oath to her Dark Moon.

Where to find Adula's Moonblade

Adula's Moonblade can be obtained by defeating Glintstone Dragon Adula at the Cathedral of Manus Celes in Liurnia of the Lakes. To reach the cathedral high atop the plateau in the southern part of the biome, you'll first have to complete a game-spanning quest. Follow our Ranni the Witch Quest Guide until you reach the point that you can finally access the plateau.

Author
Billy Givens

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Today's Wordle Answer (#318) - May 3, 2022

1 year 10 months ago

I come bearing truths about Wordle. Truths and answers! Today is May 3, and the day's Wordle is an unfortunate one. Unfortunate because it was another nail-biter when it really shouldn't have been, and unfortunate because once I thought I nearly had the word, two hints naturally came right to me. However that word isn't today's answer and instead I'm stuck with this…

Have you tried today's Wordle? I think it's a pretty reasonable one that most of y'all can get easily. It's a word I've got to imagine most of you say or hear with some frequency in your day-to-day but it probably isn't deployed in a flattering way if that frequency is on the higher end. If you are told this word quite a lot, it's probably about time you do something about it!

If you'd like to keep that Wordle streak going, or are just starting and want some good tips, we've got a guide chock full of great starting words and advice you can use to get ahead.

Today's Wordle Answer - May 3, 2022

If you'd like today's answer, you can go right to the bottom where it'll always be waiting for you, but you're all very capable Wordle players. Why not use our hints and tips instead to divine the answer for yourself? You've got this.

  • Hint 1: With enough time, you can grow to be today's Wordle answer in the survival series Don't Starve, and it's even a mechanic!

Author
Moises Taveras

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Warcraft Arclight Rumble Is Classic Warcraft Made Bite-Sized

1 year 10 months ago

Since 2004, World of Warcraft has defined the Warcraft name, becoming one of the most famous video games on the planet. It's easy to forget, then, that this franchise started as a real-time strategy game before jumping into the MMO realm. Warcraft Arclight Rumble, the franchise's debut on mobile devices, is Blizzard's attempt to bring the Warcraft name back to those strategic roots.

I've had access to a preview build of the game over the last few days, and it's very apparent that Arclight Rumble intends to remind us where Warcraft started--to resurrect Warcraft's past all while mixing familiar gameplay with characters and lands built by the MMO's lore to create an all-new experience.

The premise of Warcraft Arclight Rumble sees coin-operated machines appearing in taverns throughout Warcraft's setting of Azeroth, where patrons can use miniature figurines of creatures and heroes to battle against one another in a simplified real-time strategy game. Players will collect minis, create armies, and use them in both story battles against the AI and multiplayer matches against other players. It's a similar approach to how Hearthstone uses the tavern as its setting, only exchanging cards for minis.

Let's be clear about one thing from the jump: While WAR (not bad, Blizzard) follows the Warcraft series' familiar real-time strategy format, the depth and complexity of those older games is not here. There's one resource that needs gathering here as opposed to three, for example, and it's only used for summoning the miniatures in your army as opposed to units, buildings, and more. That said, WAR can serve as a very good primer for the bygone era of Warcrafts past, as the core gameplay feels a lot like an old-school RTS.

Author
Jason Fanelli

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